What is now the site of the Third Avenue Playhouse - known to area residents as the Donna Theater - used to be a retail store.

Movies moved out of the Donna, eventually, and into a new theater nearby, on the corner of Jefferson Street and Third Avenue.

But the flicks have gone elsewhere in town, and the theater has become - a retail store. And as if that isn't a full enough circle, the owner of the new store is two generations removed from the owner of the grocery store that became the Donna.

Owner Mitch Larson says the On Deck Clothing Company opened its new store in Sturgeon Bay on May 12th in the renovated theater, one year from his purchase of the building.

Before renovation (Click to enlarge)

On Deck Clothing after renovation, now open! (Click to enlarge)

Larson couldn't resist the opportunity to make the modern, concrete theater fit in with the historic Third Avenue streetscape. He spent six months after the purchase researching historical design before taking his plans to the city for approval. "I love old historic towns. Sturgeon Bay has such great potential with its historical roots and existing architecture. It has been my passion to take what was once considered an unfortunate 1970s-looking building and turn it into something more reflective of turn-of-the-century architecture," he said.

Larson is no stranger to renovation projects. In 2002, his flagship On Deck store in Fish Creek needed more space for an expanded women's department. Larson decided to tear down an aging extension of the building and build a new structure that links the On Deck building to the Fish Creek Market building. The new addition, he said, was specifically designed to look as if it had always been there. Using original glass block windows, the old facade, and many other details borrowed from turn-of-the-century buildings, the exterior of the addition blended with the other two structures. The interior of the addition was also very similar, right down to the maple hardwood floor.

Larson's On Deck Clothing Company has been in business for 19 years, but its ties to the county are much older.

The merchanidse carried at the Sturgeon Bay On Deck Clothing store is similar, Larson said, to that of the other On Deck Clothing location, including fashionable casual wear lines such as Tommy Bahama and Polo Ralph Lauren.

He said he is happy to be downtown in the county's largest community.

Article Reprinted with permission of Door County Advocate